Positive feeding and cutting device



Dec. 20, 1932 E. A. CAPOCEFALO IQSITIVE FEEDING AND CUTTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 1950 1932. E. A. CAPOCEFALO POSITIVE FEEDING AND CUTTING DEVICE Filed March 8, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 avweutoz I fdwardz? Ca ocef-q/o 351 his Qua/mug Ami 1932- E. A. CAPOCEFALO POSITIVE FEEDING AND CUTTING DEVICE V Filed March 8. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4' INVENTOR. L qwara fl 0f cafe/o ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES QPA'TE.

EDWARD A. CAPOCEI'ALO, or smcusn, NEW YORK, ASISIGNOR r srnmnnxcoitrm,

' me, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or NEW Yon;

POSITIVE FEEDING AND CUTTING DEVICE Application filed March 8, 1930, Serial No. 434,436.

The main object of the invention is to provide a feeding device which will positively feed any material operated on at a uniform rate of speed, without any danger of stretching, crowding or otherwise subjecting it to any strain which might alter the uniformity.

of the amount fed. Another object is to provide a feeding device on which various operations can be performed on the material being fed during its travel through the device:

A further object is to provide a device in which all the functions are accurately timed, whichisthoroughly automatic in all its operations, and in which the material is always under absolute control. A still further object is to provide a feeding device of strong and rugged construction, having all its parts readily accessible for adjustments or repair, and requiring no skill and but little attention on the part of the attendant. r

These and other objects and advantages will be readily understood from the following description and from the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment, but it will be noted that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment, several of the bearings have been removed to make the view more comprehensive;

Fig. 2 is a top view;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the material'operated on by the particular machine shown;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional front view, taken on line 44, Fig. 1; f i

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional rear view, taken on line 55, Fig. 1; a

Fig. 6 is a front view of the circular knife operating mechanism; and.

Fig. 7 a plan view of same.

Referring now to the drawings, the stand which in this case is constructed of structural steel has all it members designated by. the number 10. The main shaft 11 rotates in bearings 12 and is provided with-a pulley 13 to which power is applied from any suitable source. On this shaft is also mounted a sprocket wheel 14 which through a chain 15 drivesasprocket wheel 16 secured onra shaft the end of. shaft 20a sprocket wheel 21 is mounted which drives another sprocket wheel 22 by means of a chain 23. H The sprocket wheel 22 is mounted on the end of a shaft 24.

. The shaft 24 which rotates in the double bearings 25 has a gear 26. mounted-near, its

other end which drives another gear 27, mounted on a shaft 28. This shaft alsorotates in the bearings 25. A plurality of sprocket wheels 29 and 30 are secured respectively on the shafts 24 and .28. 1Shor't chains 31 and 32 are engaged onthe sprocket wheels nearest the bearings and these chains are also engaged on the small sprocket-wheels 33 and 34 which'are mounted on the shafts 35 and 36-rotating in the double bearings 37. The inner sprocket wheels 29 and 30 engage with long chains 38 and 39 which drives the small sprocket wheels 40 and 41-. These are mounted onshafts '42 and, 43. which rotate in the double. bearings 44. The sprocket wheels 40 and 41 nearest the bearings'carry short chains 45 and 46 which are mounted on shafts 47 and 48 rotating in the bearings 49.

The arrangement of these longv and short 1 chains isplainly showninFigs. 1 and 2; its purpose will be explained later.

V A gear 50 which is mounted near one .end

'sprocketwheels '58 and. 59 are secured on shafts 62 and 63. The shafts 52, 55, 62 and 63 are all mounted in bearings formed ona pairof side frames 64 and 65 which are cast integral with the bearings 44.

It will be seen that the lower parts of the upper chains and the upper parts of all the lower chains travel in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows. It will also be noted that a parallel passage 66 is thus formed between the chains. The material to be operated onis fed through this -passage by the action" of the chains.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, 1 and -5, ,a spiral pinion .67 is. mounted on the main shaft 11 and drives a spiral gear 68 which is mounted on a shaft 69. This shaft,

which is located at right angles to the main shaft, rotates in bearings 70 one of which only is shown. On this shaft is also mounted a sprocket wheel 71 which by means of a chain 7 2 drives a sprocket wheel 73 mounted on a. shaft 74 which rotates in bearings 75. On the other end ofthis shaft 74 a gear 76 is mounted which drives another gear 77 mounted on a shaft 78 which rotates in bear ings'79. The outer faces of these gears form disc cranks 80 and 81 which actuate cutting devices-82 and 83 through the connecting rods 8-1 and 85. 4

' These cutting devices, which are plainly shown on Figs. 1, 2'and 5, and which are described in detail in my co-pending application Serial No. 515,908 filed February 16, 1931, will now be described ina general way: Brackets 86 and 87 are cast on the bearings 37 and 48 and on these brackets doublearmed rocking levers 88 and 89 are pivoted. The other ends of these levers are connected with lugs 90fand 91 which are cast on the high-speed motors 92. Cupped, sharp-edged, conical shaped cutters 93 are mounted on the shafts of the motors 92. The upper ends of the connecting rods 84 and are also con nected to the lugs and 91, as plainly shown on Fig. 5.

Another sprocket wheel 94 is mounted on the main shaft 11 and, by means of a chain 95, drives a sprocket 96 which is mounted on a shaft 97 rotatingin bearings 98. Two cams 99 are also mounted on this shaft. These cams engage with rollers 100 which are mounted on levers 101. One end 102 of each of these levers is pivoted on the frame work 10 while the other ends are connected to length-adjustable links 103. The upper ends of the links 103 areconnected to levers 101 which are pivoted to the side frames 64 at 105 and connected with a cross bar 106 at their other ends. Similar links 107'are located parallel withzlinks 104 and are also connected at one end 108 with the side frames 6 1 and at the other ends with the cross bar. A shelf 109 is secured to the bottom of'the cross bar 106 and extends rcar wardly 'to within a short distance of the chain 61.

* A large sprocket wheel 110 is mounted on the rear end of the shaft 69 and imparts motion to a small sprocketwheel 111 by means of a chain 112. The sprocket wheel 111 is attach'ed to a shaft 113 which rotates in a bearing 114 and has another sprocket wheel 115 attached on its other end.

The sprocket wheel 115 drives a chain 116 which operates on three other sprocket wheels 117, 118, and 119, which are plainly shown in Fig. 4. These last mentioned sprocket wheels are secured on shafts 120, 121 and 122 which rotates in bearings 123, 121.and 125 cast on the side frames 64. 'A forwardly extending arm .126 is secured on the'chain 116.

A conveyor belt 127 travels transversely under the discharge end of the chain 61 and parts of theside frames 64 are cut away, as shown at 128, to accommodate the material conveyed on this belt. Narrow slots 129 are formed in the side frames 64: toaccommodate the circular knife 130d. The knife is rotatingly mounted on a rocker arm which is mounted on a bracket bearing 136 secured T on one of the pedestals 44. The knife is'rotated by a belt 137 whichpasses over the knife pulley 138 and two idlers 139 and 1 10 which are mounted on the rocker arm. The

belt is driven by an independent motor. The

rocker arm is actuated by a cam ltl which engages a sidewar'dlyextending projection 142 formed on the rocker arm, and the cam is mounted on a shaft 1&13 to which power is imparted by a chain engaged on a sprocket wheel 144. This shaft rotates in timed relation to the rest of the machine. 7

The operation of the device will now be described: As already stated, power from some suitable source is supplied to the pulley 13 which, through the'main shaft 11, sprock et' 1 1, chain 15, sprocket 16, Geneva movements 18 and 19, sprocket 21, chain 23, sprocket 22, and gears 26 and 27, imparts an intermittent movement to all the conveyor chains on the top of the machine. The embodiment of the invention shown and described inv this case is particularly adapted for feeding and cutting a plurality of sheets of cellulose'material for fillers for sanitary napkins. This material is fed through the parallel passage 66 formed between the conveyorchains'. The material 130 is'shown in Fig: 3 where the various steps of the operations performed on it are clearly illustrated. I

The conveyor chains "engage both the top and bottom of the material and convey it in intermittent steps, the length of each 'step being equal to the width of afiller 131. As

the material passes beyond the cutting devices 82 and 83 these descend and ,form the ends 132 of the fillers in the manner shown on Fig. 3. Tl1ese cutting operations take place during periods while the material is atrest.- The movement'of the cutting devices is continuous, however, but so timed that the cutters 93 are out of engagement with the materialwhile it is being moved forward.

Thismaterial, with its formed edges, is

again advanced andcorrectly fed until under the circular knife 130a. This knife 'now descends and severs the material, as shown at 133. This operation also takes place while the material is at rest. The circular knife, which is actuated by a separate mechanism (not shown) is in continuous motion but so timed with the machine as to only engage with the material when it is at rest.

The formed and severed fillers 131 are now again conveyed forward until the first one 131A. is disengaged from the conveyor chains and pushed out upon the shelf 109. This shelf, which is raised and lowered by means of the cams 99, rollers 100, levers 101, link 103, levers 104 and 107, and cross bar 106, now descends until it almost touches the transverse belt 127. The arm 126 which is attached on the continuously moving chain 16 pushes or wipes the filler off the shelf 109 and onto the transverse belt. This belt conveys the wrapper in which the filler is to be wrapped. It will be readily understood that, as the material from which the fillers are cut is under continuous control and always in positive engagement, the fillers will be placed on the transverse belt in exact position and exactly spaced, thus automatic wrapping.

Vhile I have described a machine particularly adapted for fillers for sanitary napkins, I do not wish to limit the invention-to such use only but intend to use it for feeding and forming any material on which it can be employed. In like manner I do not wish to limit the. cutting devices to those shown as it will be readily seen that many other forms or shapes might be imparted to the material. The spaces 134 formed between the outer conveying chains makes such forming or shaping operations possible.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim as new and wish to protect by Letters Patent is: r

1. In a device of the class described, a frame structure, a plurality of pairs of uppershafts and a plurality of pairs of lower shafts, a

' plurality of sprocket wheels secured on each of these shafts, chains operating on the sprocket wheels secured on each ofsaid pairs of shafts, a parallel passage formed between the lower parts of the upper chains and the upper parts of all the lower chains, means for causing all the chains to travel in the same material, and means for actuating said knife and shelf in timed relation to the interrupted travel of the chains.

2. In a device of the class described, a fran'ze structure, a plurality of pairs of upper shafts greatly facilitating their,

the lower-parts of all the upper chains and theupper parts of all the lower chains, means for causing all the chains to travel in the same direction relative to the passage between them, means for causing the travel of all said chains to be interrupted at regular intervals,

.a knifeoperating between two of the groups of upper and lowerchains for severing the I material being fed, a descending shelf for receiving the severed part of the material, a

conveyor belt traveling below said shelf,

means for transfering the severedmaterial from the shelf to said belt, and means for actuating said knife and shelf in timed relation to the interrupted travel of the chains.

3. In a device of the class described, a frame structure, a plurality of pairs of upper shafts and a plurality of pairs of lower shafts, a plurality of sprocket wheels secured on each of these shafts, chains operating on the sprocket wheels secured on each of said pairs of shafts, a parallel passage formed between the lower parts of all the upper chains and the upper parts of all the lower chains, means for causing all the chains to travel in the same direction relative to the passage between them, means for. causing the travel of all said chains to be interrupted at regular intervals, a knife operating between two of the groups of upper and lower chains for severing the material being fed, a descending shelf for receiving the severed part of the material, a conveyor belt traveling below said shelf, and means for removing thesevered material from the shelf and depositing it upon the belt in exact position and at'exact intervals.

of said pedestals provided with upper and lower bearings, shafts rotating in all of said bearings,- each of said shafts carrying a plurality of sprocket wheels, chains operating on all of said sprocket wheels, some of said chains operating on the sprocket wheels mounted on one end and on one intermediate shaft, other chains operating on the sprocket wheels mounted on the end shafts, a parallel passage formed between the upper and lower chains, spaces provided between the intermediate pedestals in which a tool or tools may be,

operated, means for imparting an intermittent motion to all of said chains whereby they will all travel in the same direction relative to the passage between them, a knife for severing the material being fed, and means for timing'the operation of said knife and any tool or tools used with the travel of the chains. 7

EDWARD A. CAPOCEFALO. 

